I voted for 'voice'.

Why?

Why create a game that nobody but those of us with the most powerful gaming systems could play?  If everyone has to upgrade their CPU, RAM, or Video cards just to play... that will cut down on the number of sub's.  And, if the number of sub's isn't some huge number, then most will see the game as a failure. 

Beautiful graphics doesn't have to mean/equate to 'system intensive' all of the time, but it certainly has for most MMO's.  Any game that has come out and really tried to take the graphics throne in the MMO genre has been a buggy mess.  Sure, I want a great looking game.  Who doesn't?  But why sacrifice overall playability?

...

Fully integrated/fully voiced interaction is the way to go.  Can't wait to give it a spin.  It's new... innovative.  To me, it will help with immersion. 

I can't say that I disagree with the OP, but I can say that I am still enjoying the game. 

End Game in MMORPG's hasn't changed and I don't think Dev's really know how to change it. 

There has to be a 'grind' of some kind... otherwise, why would you keep playing? 

Originally posted by Ashlar

I enjoyed my time in SWG up until the NGE.  It was my chance to live in the Star Wars universe.  I never understood the need to change to make it more heroic.  The time period the game was set in already had its heroes.  We were the guys on the back burner making the galaxy happen.  Soldiers, Entertainers, and Traders all making the galaxy as it was.  Our choices to fight for a side, remain neutral, or become a traitor to our cause.  SWG captured more of what Star Wars is to me than all of this "heroic", and "iconic" crap.  No the Jedi didn't fit into the time period, and I would bet that their inclusion in the game came from over developments heads.  Probably some suit with SOE/LA that said "But you can't have Star Wars without Jedi."  Thanks Raph for the good times.  

 I would have to say... that Jedi were supposed to have been a much more 'rare' unlock.  Order 66 didn't catch every single one of them.  And the one's that got away would've been hunted.  which really lends itself to the original 'bounty hunting' concept.. if you are a Jedi and you do 'anything' in open view of another player, then you would likely generate a 'bounty' on your head.

I liked that.

I was a Jedi preCU.  Playing Jedi was a lot like playing most MMO's on a PvP server.  I kept my 'radar' up and monitored for inbound 'red-dots' (or 'blue triangles' that changed to 'red triangles').

The issue is... like other games... that once 1 player has something amazing, most other players want it.  And, if they can't get it (or even if they aren't wiling to put the work in to get it) they will gripe until it's 'given' to them.  This lead us to the NGE and the welfare Jedi systeem... with gub'ment cheese lightsabers. 

Anyway...

I know the game was far from perfect preCU/preNGE.. and it's far from perfect in the current state.  I genuinely enjoyed what SWG brought to the table, though. No other game since has generated that type of community.  And no matter how much 'change' they brought to the game or how many technical changes they made, they couldn't bring the community back. 

I miss the excitement that the game provided.

Let me clear that statement up a bit...

The game, as a sandbox, allowed for the other players on my server to create a setting that appealed to me.  I miss the huge IMP and REB guilds going at one another.  I miss base hunting.. base defense... large scale PvP (OPEN WORLD), and I miss knowing that 10+ RL friends played the game along with me.

That was all PRE-CU(RB) and definitely PRE-NGE. 

*** Yes, dead-horse beaten... and lead to water, beaten again for being unable to drink... and yes, beaten again for the sake of continuing to beat the dead horse. 

SWG was a game that I couldn't wait to log into.  And when I was in the game, sandbox or not, I had an agenda and goals.  I had things I wanted to do and was almost contantly busy doing them.   And, unlike todays games, the game itself didn't hold your hand and lead you down some bread-crumb trail. 

I had multiple accounts... I multi-boxed.  I enjoyed the hell out of SWG.  Loved it.

Maybe it was because it was what I consider an 'early' MMO?  Maybe because we didn't really have some massive assortment of games to choose from?  Maybe it's because it was Star Wars?

I believe that it was the community in that game that ultimately had me hooked. 

And then... the mass exodus. 

And the game was never the same after. 

I put a tombstone on SWG a while back.  And as hard as it was to do, some part of me always hoped for the sake of hoping, that someone at SOE would pull their collective head's outta their collective arse's and get that game back to good.

Sad to know the game will be gone forever and there will never be a chance for them to fix it or to return it back to the old glory days.

To be honest... aren't all mmo's in the same boat?

I can't find 1 game that doesn't provide the same classic quest hub, kill 5 wolves/get 5 pelts questing from lvl 1-max level, dungeons til cap level, raid, repeat raid content cycle until new raid content is avail, learn to conquer next raid, farm next raid, til next raid (nice sub-routine there)... do this until expansion.  Start routine over again, subbing lvl1-Max for Old Max to New Max level. 

As for PvP... there is no open world PvP. If there is open world PvP... it's extremely rare, happens in very small skirmishes, and doesn't last long.  PvP doesn't matter to the game world... unless it provides access to 1 dungeon/raid for a few hours at a time.

Disappointed in the genre as a whole. 

Yes.  That's the simple answer. 

As absolutely silly as it seems... I hate the marketing teams of MMORPG's with a passion. They are too damned good at their jobs. 

We also have an absolute overflow of info from sites such as this.  When we first hear about a game, it's exciting.  But as we are exposed to updates over the course of 2-3 years as the MMO is created... we begin to lose that sense of 'magic'/excitement. In short, by the time the game is released... the honeymoon is often already over. 

I keep coming back and trying the game from time to time.  It's still not as polished of a game as it should be for as old as it is. 

When it comes to support 'read your contract'. 

You will get what you pay for, regarding service and support.   Don't expect an amazing customer service experience if you option for the 'default' support --- which typically means you are entitled to 'no software support & parts only'.  Some contracts are sold that don't provide any phone or onsite support at all.  These are typically meant to provide a lower initial purchase cost OR this may mean you are qualified to provide support for your own systems (you don't need support :)  ). 

Please pay attention to support availability for YOUR contract.  Not all contracts are made equal.   Some offer phone support 24x7... some 8-5/Mon-Fri... some offer software.. some offer hardware support... and some... are literally 'pars only' warranties. 

Research your hardware.... but study your support contract vigorously.    

I love how these games get awards before they are even released. 

It's complete BS to do this.

This is like extending credit to someone that hasn't held a job yet.  Sure, you have seen their high school and college diploma's... but what will they do in the real world?  What happens when they aren't graded on a curve?  The harsh, cruel world filled with millions of critics. 

The earliest a game should be able to receive an award would be 90+ days after launch.  Let players play it and let sub numbers begin to solidify.... then hand out some awards.

All of this hype moves boxes, but it also places the credibility of the award providers in serious jeopardy.

Again... 'game of the year' should NEVER  belong to a game that hasn't been released yet. 

Haven't researched this game much, but it certainly does look interesting.  Am I to understand that this game will not be available on PC?  Console only?  If this is trictly a console game, then I will never play it.  But if we're looking at the offering on PC, I'd be glad to give this a go for sure.

Sad... but true.

While I do see certain positives in games that lead you on a path (because it allows the dev's to tell their story through quests/npc interface)... it takes the control away from the user.

Worlds weren't meant to be explored anymore.  True, there are games that feature 'explorer' achievements, but what are you really doing there?  Are you really discovering anything?  No.  Not really.  "Achievement: Discovered the Ancient Lands of Thrice-ground Trogg's" ... that every other player you've leveled has already discovered, and the 11,000,000 that have gone before you.  Witness the enchanting land where NPC xyz will have you kill 12 foxes and bring their pelts to me, because it ties in with lore of how we will eventually overthrow the grand evil Ice KING!!!!!!!!

Meh. 

Hopefully SW:TOR won't be as 'bland' as others are saying.  WoW clone?  Really?  Is that the label for this game?  I dunno.  I hope not. 

Hopefully WoW/Blizz can pull their collective heads outta their arses and get that ship going right.  Give WoW players something different to look forward to other than Sat Morning Trade Chat when the kiddies are on.

Experiencing the IP's as MMORPG's is a lot like watching the movie after reading the book. 

When you read the book, sure the author provides some mental images for you... but your mind paints the pictures.  You generate the 'world' in your head and when you read the words, you create your own 'movie' esque experience in your head.  Or, at least, that's pretty close to what I do.  When the movie roll's around, you see an adaptation of the IP (book) in someone else's eyes... their vision.  Not the original (author's version), not yours (the reader's), but instead a 3rd party that spoon feed's you their version.

To me, that's really what happens when IP's become MMO's.  Books, movies, comic's, or even other video games that become MMO's generally don't live up to hype the IP itself has built up.  SOE's SWG is a great example.  Growing up as a major Star Wars fan, I was excited to hear that the MMO was being created.  When it finally hit, however, the reality fo what I logged into and saw was... well... it wasn't everything I had hoped for.  It was 'enough', however, to keep me happy for a few years... until the CU/NGE. 

The point... dev's really need to be careful when treading on fan's imaginations. 

Stay true to the IP.  Sure, make a 'fun game'... but don't kill lore and wreck the creator's vision to do so.  Movies often commit this type of a crime, but MMO's are simply over the top at times.

 

1. Best Graphics (combination of style + technical) - Age of Conan

2. Smoothest Controls - World of Warcraft

3. Best User Interface - World of Warcraft

4. Best Character creation - City of Heroes

5. Best Class and Race choices - Star Wars Galaxies (Pre-CU/pre-NGE) = Jedi and no gnome or elf

6. Best PVE leveling content. - World of Warcraft

7. Best Crafting - n/a (not a crafter)

8. Best Fluff content ( housing, pets.. etc.) - Star Wars Galaxies

9. Best community - Star Wars Galaxies (what's left of it)

10. Best Player vs. Player content - Warhammer Online 

11. Most immersive experience? - SWG (pre-CU/pre-NGE)

12. Biggest world? - unknown

13. Best Endgame - if end game = treadmill gear grinds and killing the same raid bosses over and over... I wouldn't vote.  That's not even a 'good' endgame. 

Well written.  Honestly, one of the best articles I've read in quite a while here.

Need more like this, honestly.

Originally posted by Teala

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

---

Originally posted by Teala

 

I just don't see it happening.

---

 

Malcanis already pointed out that Captcha isn't an obstacle for bots for some time already, the fact you don't see it only means you need to educate yourself on the topic.

Things seem simple when you only know little to make flawed claims but still too ignorant to realize the complexity of the issue...

Explain how a program can be written to overcome a captcha and I'll concede.

 http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~mori/research/gimpy/

It appears that captcha can be overcome? 

As much as I wanted to love this game... it just didn't happen. 

I actually have gone back to WAR a few times already.  But I've never been able to stay. 

As with a lot of other games, low population servers... low population zones... player level/groups that never have enough to form raids or get any fair pvp going (unless you are lowbie). 

I love some of the things that they did with the game, but like Loke said... not enough to keep me. 

In my opinion WAR and RIFT do quite a few things right... but there is something about their combat that makes them... 'lacking'.  I'm not sure how else to put it, but they just seem... 'lifeless' from a combat perspective. 

I don't know that MMO's have gone to crap since WoW has been released... but I think that WoW has overshadowed most of the other games.  I simply don't think the other games stood a chance...

WoW has done to other MMORPGS what Michael Jordan did to the careers of John Stockton, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller, etc.,... denied them championships.  And WoW denied other players the opportunity to succeed by simply dominating the MMORPG landscape in sub numbers alone. 

In my opinion, because of WoW, games like WAR, LOTRO, and AOC never had the opportunity for a 'high level' of success (meaning huge player sub numbers).  When you have a playerbase the size that WoW has, you have an almost limitless amount of free-press via word-of-mouth. 

No, not all press on WoW = positive, but nearly anytime anyone says something negative about WoW... the fanboyz attack.  And that's their right. 

Majority rules.  And WoW is the 'majority'. 

MMO vs MMORPG ...

MMO is just a prefix to me that indicates that a game is not intended for 'solo', localized gameplay. 

- solo = by myself, no other human controlled players in the game world that I occupy. 

- localized = installed on my PC, played on my PC, all content is on my PC, and I don't need to communicate to:from a server to access all parts of the game/game world.  (Not including BS systems like 'Steam' that limits how you access the games you have purchased).

Games where players only meet in some 'lobby' and then decide to spawn a 'multiplayer' instance of a gameworld -- not MMO either, imho.  That's nothing more than a LAN party with a few friends. 

MMO = 'massive' populations.  Multitudes of players.  And  a persistent world you access and players you interract with are only accessible online/via internet connection.

...

WoW = MMORPG.

But if Azeroth went away and all you did was log in and queue up for battlegrounds or arena matches via some lobby system, the game would cease to be a MMORPG, imho.

And as someone else stated, I don't consider COD (or FPS games) to be an MMO, necessarily.  I consider it to be a web-enabled/global LAN party, if you will.  Until you can have hundreds vs hundreds matches.... we're still just talking about skirmishes and matches.  There's no true indication of a persistent online world that you access. 

Unless you consider a 'lobby' (where everyone that is logged into the system and is queued for match-play sits) as a persistent world... then MMORTS and MMOFPS needs to stop being labeled as MMO's. 

They need a different title, imho.  I know that may sound 'dumb' to some of you, but  I simply don't see those games as truly being MMO's.

Originally posted by Rawiz

Originally posted by VIVIsectVI

To me Cataclysm is a failure.  I don't care about 1-60 content because I've done it already.  That's where they spent too much time.  The 80-85 content is nothing but boring daily quests once you finish all the regular quests.  For me it's really hard to pinpoint what I dislike about Cataclysm, but I had fun with Classic, BC, and WotLK all the way up until a few months before the next expansion.  I'm already tired of Cataclysm and we probably have to wait a year and a half for the next expansion.  And it seems until then, Blizzard are primarily focusing on optional garbage for people to spend money on.  I'll pass.

Same for me. Stopped playing @ february myself. I also have a hard time to exactly say why I'm not enjoying the game anymore. Probably Blizz just finally went too far on the simplifcation. I liked vanilla and TBC a lot, WotLK got a bit ridicilous towards the end, but was still ok for the most part. Cataclysm, though... can't imagine when I'd start playing again.

I expected much from Cataclysm, but it's by far the dullest expansion they've made so far. There's no longer true purpose to even leave a capital, you just sit there waiting for some queue to pop.

I actually miss farming stuff for res gear, Silithus raid boss summons, raiding Astranaar, timed Strat runs, etc. Of course a lot of that stuff was so cool, because it was first time doing things like that.

I guess I just miss the sense of new that no longer is there and now that the game is back to Azeroth, there's not even a new continent to use. There's a lot of vets who seem to be feeling the same way now.

Can't complain much though, if a game gives you around 5 years of good times and holds your interest, it obviously has paid its price back in full. I don't even want to imagine how much (more) money I would've spent in beer without WoW.

 

 I agree wholeheartedly.  Well said. 

I agree with the OP.

WoW... got worse with Cataclysm.  For the fanboys that shoot down anything that is remotely negative about WoW.... I used to be one of you.  I have tried 2-3 times to come back to WoW and find something that I like about Cataclysm.  No joy.  Sick of same old treadmill wrapped in a new package.

SC2... I don't see much difference between original and the sequel.   I'm sorry.  I don't see the big draw to SC as 'an E-sport'.  And yeah, I used to play SC, AoE, EE, etc.,.. Nothing about SC2 really makes me think 'damn, if I don't play this game... then I am missing out on something 'epic' in the gaming world'. 

It's not like any other games are necessarily kicking their teeth in, tbh.  But these games aren't 'standouts', not to the degree that they used to be.

Granted.  I don't give a rip about Battlenet and I don't care about E-Sports.   

Do these games move a lot of units?  Yes.

Does that = quality?  Not necessarily. 

and everyone spits out units sold: But... but... 'if they moved that many units, then the games must be amazing.. right?' 

Exec's and stock holders are freaking out and loving life.  So, the company isn't going anywhere from a business perspective.  But their games aren't going in the right direction, either.  WoW had how many fewer sub's this quarter?

So, Diablo III is supposed to be the next big hit.  I have high hopes for the game.  But it should be head and shoulders above Diablo 1 and 2 in terms of quality, innovation, and content.  From a single player perspective... this game had better absolutely destroy the previous 2 iterations. 

And... is Diablo III going to suffer as they try to wedge in some E-Sportiness to it as well?  As a player, if you grow to love a class in terms of your single player experience, never set foot in the 'pvp' portion offered, yet PvP gets your favorite class changed to the point where you no longer enjoy playing it... what then?  "Play another class".  Wrong answer. 

Again, Diablo III better be the major monster hit they expect.... or they will be placing that much more pressure on Titan.  The game that will allow you to do virtually anything you wish, playstyle/preference-wise.